The Magic of Iceland Tour

Tour #: IST 125
Duration: 12 days - not including US departure day
Tour Date:
IST 125 = Sunday 07 August - Friday 19 August 2005 (sold out)

Minimum/Maximum Tour Size: 8/12 passengers
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General Description:

This very successful tour (our fifth year of offering it!) is a great introduction to Iceland - the land, the people and its culture. As a small group, you will travel mostly off the beaten track and experience the freedom of less visited areas. Enjoy Iceland’s magical natural paradise at Lake Mývatn, its saga regions, beautiful fjord coastlines in the Northwest and the stunning glacier at the end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Iceland Saga Travel and Ísafold are pleased once again to bring you this private tour.

Departure day - Sunday: US
Leave US on evening flight from Icelandair gateway (see below).

Day 1 - Monday: Reykjavík
Arrive in Iceland in the morning. Take the comfortable FlyBus from Keflavík International Airport to your accommodations. Spend the day relaxing or exploring the capital city of Reykjavík. Optional tours include a city tour, whale watching cruise or visit to the nearby countryside for a horseback tour. Contact IST for tour options. Overnight in Reykjavík.

Day 2 - Tuesday: Reykjavík - Kjölur - Skagafjörður (B, D)
Our first stop will be at the volcanic crater Kerid, with its aqua lake on the bottom. From there we pass by the beautiful church at the cultural site and former bishopric Skálholt.
After a short drive from there we will pay a visit to a greenhouse village, look into a unique geothermally operated flower-growing greenhouse and enjoy a very specal welcome drink out of cucumber ‘glasses’. It’s a custom to eat your glass afterwards! Then we drive eastward to the spectacular natural sights Geysir and Gullfoss - two stops on Iceland’s famous Golden Circle. We will drive north along the interior road Kjölur to Skagafjörður, stopping at the geothermal fields of Hveravellir, location of a remote hot springs for an option to bathe in a natural hot pool! Upon arrival in Skagafjörður we head to the small but comfortable Hotel Tindastóll in the harbor town Sauðárkrókur, where we will stay our first two nights in the countryside.

Day 3 - Wednesday: Skagafjörður (B, D)
In the morning we will visit the geothermal pool at Reykir at Reykjaströnd, the place where the saga hero Grettir the Strong swam to the island Drangey. Later in the morning we will stop for a horse riding show at a farm in Skagafjörður Valley, home of Iceland’s top hrose breeders. People interested in trying out the Icelandic horse will have an opportunity here for a short riding tour (at additional cost). In the afternoon we’ll go on a boat tour from the harbor town Sauðárkrókur out to the islands on the bay, have the possibility to spot some whales and even try our luck at catching a cod or two. In the afternoon we’ll visit a restored turf farm in the Skagafjörður area and enjoy a chance to try various Icelandic food specialties and Icelandic schnapps.

Day 4 - Thursday: Skagafjörður - Siglufjörður - Akureyri - Lake Mývatn (B, D)
We start the morning by having a look at the popular Emigration Museum in Hofsós on our way to and through the historic “herring town” Siglufjörður, offering the very special herring exhibition and show. We drive further on through the towns Ólafsfjörður, Dalvík and Akureyri, and on to our accommodations for the next two nights close to the natural paradise at Lake Myvatn.

Day 5 - Friday: Myvatn - Húsavík - Dettifoss - Mývatn (B, D)
This day we make a big loop tour with stops at the quaint fishing village of Húsavík and the national park of Jökulsárgljúfur with many gems of nature such as the waterfalls Góðafoss and Dettifoss and the surroundings of Lake Mývatn. Here you’ll enjoy the great evening buffet of Hótel Sel before returning to our countryside hotel accommodation.

Day 6 - Saturday: Akureyri - Blönduós (B, D)
We have time to enjoy the morning in the surroundings of Lake Myvatn before we drive back west through the charming town of Akureyri with a stop there for time to browse and also to buy some tree plants for planting on day 9. This day’s accommodation is planned at Hótel Blanda in the seaside village of Blönduós.

Day 7 - Sunday: Viðidalur - Vatnsnes - Laugarhóll (B, D)
In the morning we visit the interesting rock formations of Borgarvirki and the birds cliff at Hvitserkur before we drive around the Vatnsnes peninsula, famous for its seal colonies. We pass around the fjord Hrútafjörður before we start to move along the interesting fjordscape of the coastal area "Strandir", the eastern part of the Westfjords.
In Hólmavík, the largest local town in this region, we visit the most interesting exhibition of sorcery, informing us about the mystical days, which characterized this area in earlier times. In the afternoon we reach our accommodation at Laugarhóll in the beautiful Bjarnarfjörður valley, which offers very good open air geothermal bathing facilities. We will stay here for two nights.

Day 8 - Monday: Laugarhóll - Strandir - Laugarhóll (B, D)
We will drive further north to a remote place on the north coast of Iceland, visited only infrequently by tourists. You will experience silence and calmness of this fiord-carved area and its stunning vistas.

Day 9 - Tuesday: Laugarhóll - Dalir (B, D)
We move along the mountain road Thorskafjarðarheiði to the beautiful calm fjords of the southern region of the Westfjords. We drive around the Klofningur peninsula and head to our accommodation for tonight at Laugar in Sælingsdalur in the Dalir (Valleys) area, offering once again a geothermal open-air swimming pool. Before we reach our accommodation we will leave our contribution to the reforestation of Iceland by planting some small trees at the Reykjanes peninsula.

Day 10 - Wednesday: Laugar - Snaefellsnes (B, D)
In the morning we visit the restored farmhouse of the world famous Viking and explorer Erik the Red. The rest of the day, we focus on the interesting peninsula of Snæfellsnes, which is said to offer Iceland in a nutshell. We travel through the surprisingly varied landscape of the northern part of the peninsula to the tip of it, where the glacier and volcano Mt. Snæfellsjökull reigns, the starting point of Jules Verne’s novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth". After a walk on the jagged coastline by the village of Arnarstapi we head to our last night’s accommodation at Hótel Bifröst.

Day 11 - Thursday: Borgarfjörður - Reykjavík (B)
We drive through the beautiful area of the Borgarfjörður valleys. Having visited some of the beautiful natural sights in the vicinity, we travel via the Kaldidalur pass between the glaciers Langjökull and Ók down to Thingvellir (Þingvellir), the former outdoor parliament site. The last leg is a drive along the beautiful lakeside road to Nesjavellir before we come back to Reykjavik for a pleasant evening in the city on your own.

Day 12 Friday: Blue Lagoon - Reykjanes - Keflavík (B)
After a free morning you’ll be picked up at your accommodations at 11:00 AM for a direct drive to the famous Blue Lagoon, where we can bathe in the mineral rich geothermal water. At approximately 2:00 PM we will drive directly to Keflavík International airport in time to check in for your return flight.

Tour Information:
Rate of Difficulty: Easy pace, non-strenuous walks and hikes.
Included: Round trip flights on Icelandair from US Icelandair gateways, FlyBus ticket for transport into Reykjavík upon arrival in Iceland, tour transport and professional guidance in a large minibus suitable and comfortable for use on Iceland’s interior highland roads, accommodations with private facilities - 9 nights at country hotels, 2 nights at downtown Reykjavík guesthouse (optional hotel upgrade available upon request), 11 breakfasts, 9 dinners, boat tour, horse show, entrance fees to museums in Hofsós, Glaumbær and Eríksstaðir, the herring museum, tree planting and entrance to the Blue Lagoon.
Not Included: Luggage porterage usually not available at accommodations. Meals not identified by B - breakfast and D - dinner. Travel insurance is available upon request from IST’s insurance company - TravelGuard International.

Feel free to add a day or two before and after the tour in Reykjavík or for a Greenland or Faroe Islands add-on. Contact us for more information.

Price (Includes all taxes and airport fees):

IST-125 $5329.00 per person staying in a double room
Single supplement: $726.00 add-on for single room occupancy
Includes round trip US flights from East Coast Icelandair gateways. Call for pricing from non-East Coast gateways.

Route map: